Another Side
by Vir M
Summary: Sadie thought her flight was going to Japan... but she couldn't have been more wrong. Hinted KakashixOC. Rated for language. Part 1 of a 2 story series featuring an OC with no ninja abilities whatsoever... but the burning desire to become a rock star!
1. Prologue: Sadie

"Another Side"

_A Fan-Fiction by Vir M._

Prologue:

"**Sadie"

* * *

**

She woke up grinning like a loon and trembling like a druggie in withdrawal.

It was an emotion balancing on the thin line of excitement and fear, trepidation and delicious anticipation. Could she do it? Would she fit in? Would she be ostracized from her traditionalist family due to her heritage?

For, after all, an opportunity like this came only once in a lifetime. It did for someone like Sadie, anyway...

She bounded out of bed with all the grace of a duck, tripped and landed flat on her butt, the smile on her face diminishing somewhat (but not quite disappearing altogether). Groaning, she brushed her black hair from her face and rose, making sure to keep her feet under her this time. She glanced around her small room, eyes wide and adrenaline rushing its way through her petit body. Her bags were lined up against the wall, already packed; her clothes for the day had been laid out the night before, pressed and ready to be worn; her plane ticket, that once-in-a-lifetime slip of paper, lay idly on the dresser, waiting to be used.

And use it she would. She giggled like a girl about to attend her first party, then made her way to the bathroom to dress.

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**

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AUTHOR TIME:**

**This was posted at the same time as "Chapter 1." Woot! Thanks rereading! Please review!**

**I wrote this in eighth grade so it is FAR from perfect. I've improved a lot since then (smile)**

**NARUTO (c MASASHI KISHIMOTO**


	2. Chapter 1: A Funny Thing Happened

Another Side

_A Fan-Fiction by Vir M._

Chapter One:

"**A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forest…"

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**

After checking my bags, I boarded the plane without much trouble. Being only 15, I had been escorted to my seat by a flight attendant ahead of the other passengers.

_Unaccompanied minor, _I thought idly, not really appreciating the sound of it. _I can take care of myself, but at least this way I don't have to fight for a seat. _The flight attendant—a chipper woman with silvering hair and crows feet around her eyes— was nice, however, and soon we got to talking.

"Have you ever been to Japan before?" The woman asked amiably as she helped me wrestle my suitcase into an over-head bin.

"I was born there. Haven't been back since."

"Really?" said the woman asked, taking in my pale skin and gray eyes. "You don't look Japanese."

"I'm half." I grinned. "My dad was British and met my mom on business. After she married him, her family pretty much disowned her. They haven't spoken since my birth, at least." I smiled to myself nervously and got settled in my seat; thoughts drifting back to the obscure letter my grandmother had sent me. "A couple months ago, we—I mean 'I'—received a letter from my grandmother, the family head. It said that she would be expecting me for a visit. It was sudden, but she wired me a ticket and everything. No explanation, either."

"How nice!" The attendant beamed. "I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time in Japan!"

We chatted about nothing until the other passengers began to board the jet liner and the attendant had to leave to seat them. I got a book out of my carry-on and began to read, excited about what was to come.

* * *

The flight was long. Very long. Suffice to say I slept for most of it, being too excited to do much else besides listen to music on my CD player and stare out the window at endless gray water and cloud.

When we finally touched down in mid-afternoon Tokyo, I was transferred to another flight: a small twenty-four seater in which I was the only passenger. This trip lasted only an hour and a half.

When I got off of the plane, I noticed two things:

One was that, outside all of the windows, there was nothing but dense forest. The placement of an airstrip would be problematic in such a wooded area, and I absently made note of it as I hauled my carry-on messenger bag to baggage claim.

The second was that the airport seemed to be deserted.

No one was at baggage claim. No one was behind the help desk in the tiny terminal. No bag-boys loitered around, looking for the delicate or infirm.

It was creepy, alright. My footsteps rang hollowly in the tiled room; the turnstiles that would normally dole out suitcases were silent and unmoving.

A chill went down my spine. It was too quiet.

I sat down in a chair bolted to the wall. A large blue tile planter box holding some white-barked trees had been placed next to the chairs, and it effectively obscured me from the view of (suspiciously absent) passerby.

I waited for twenty minutes. No one walked by. No bags came trundling out onto the conveyor belt.

"I am in the right place, aren't I?" I asked myself for the billionth time as I looked around the deserted airport. The place was so tiny that baggage claim and the ticket booths were located in the same room. The waiting area for the passengers existed past a set of double doors across the room from me, and the only exit I could see existed on the other side of the planter box next to me.

"Hello-oh?" I called softly. My intonation echoed back to me, and I giggled at the sound of my British voice.

"This is sooo boring." I moaned, rising from my seat and stretching languidly. "Where the bloody hell's the _staff,_ for Chrissake?"

I paced back and forth in front of my seat for a few minutes, growing slightly angry.

"I want my bags!" I yelled loudly. The echoes of my voice were the only answer I received.

I scowled and continued pacing, agitated. I needed something to do, and badly.

Gritting my teeth, I spun around and propped my elbows on the chest-high tile walls of the planter box. The tiles felt cool beneath the arms, and I leaned my head back so I was looking at the trees upside-down.

The greenery was soothing, and as was the growing pressure in my temples caused by increased blood flow to my brain. My neck began to ache dully, so I jerked my head back upright—

—and in the process caught sight of what looked like a piece of star-shaped metal embedded in one of the trees.

"What the hell?" I murmured, rubbing the back of my neck absently as I slowly turned around and peered into the trees. "Was that a--?" My eyes widened as I finally found it.

A shuriken was sticking out of one of the trees. Sap oozed from the gash created by one of the weapon's points, and the metal gleamed slightly in the overhead fluorescent lighting.

"Why's there a throwing star?" I asked loudly. I frowned as I stared at it. "Well, we ARE in Japan; I guess there could be ninja… though I thought they went out of style in the Warring States Era and all…" I chuckled, then leaned over the tile wall and reached for the star.

My fingers missed as I made the first swipe at it, but connected with the second—though only for a second. The metal was cool beneath my fingertips, and all of a sudden I was struck with the desire to rip the small thing from the tree.

"First souvenir of the summer." I grunted as I leaned over the tiles again, reaching for the shuriken. "Quality ninja paraphernalia. Jolly good." My muscles strained as I stretched, trying my hardest to hook a finger in the ring cut out of the center of the projectile. I stood on tip toe, nearly doubled over the wall in my attempt to grab the thing. I hopped slightly, balance on one foot, and snagged the shuriken with my index finger.

"Gotcha." I breathed. I then pulled on the weapon, but it did not budge. "Bloody thing's stuck—" I yanked with all my might and felt the star pull free from the clinging wood.

My elation was cut short as the star rocketed backwards from the force I had exerted to wrench it free and stabbed me in the palm.

I yelped and fell backwards onto the cold floor, shuriken clutched in my right hand. I transferred it to my left and looked at the wound on my palm.

It was deep but thin, and the bleeding was already slowing. I grimaced at the ache, but tried my best to shrug it off. My palm was coated in blood, which made the hurt look worse than it felt.

Swearing, I rose to my feet and walked over to my seat. The shuriken felt cold beneath my fingers as I slung my messenger bag over one shoulder. I turned to face the exit doors.

"No use waiting around here," I mumbled to myself. The fact that no one had told me to stop defacing the damn trees was enough to convince me I was very much alone. No security guard would have stood for it. "Might as well find a ride to Grandmother's…" I had her address on a slip of paper in my wallet. "I'll call and have my bags delivered to her house."

Squaring my shoulders, I walked through the automatic doors and out of the airport.

The outside was just as much of a shock as the inside.

There was no sign of civilization. No taxis waited for clients, no bellhops waited to carry your things.

There wasn't even a road.

All there was was a small stretch of grass that gradually turned into the forest I had glimpsed from the windows.

It was just as deserted as the terminal had been.

"What the fuck—" I swore. "Is this a joke? 'Cause it sure as HELL ain't funny." I glared at the emptiness, then flipped the silence off. Feeling a bit better, I turned back around with the intention of re-entering the automatic doors—

Only to find that the building had disappeared.

**

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AUTHOR TIME**

**I wrote this at the end of eighth grade (AKA a LONG time ago) and loved the idea behind it, so decided to post it (it was the second fic I ever wrote). My writing skills have progressed since then, so please do not tell me that I suck or anything. I've gotten a lot better since I wrote this.**

**The pairing for this will be KakashixOC. This story takes place several years after Kakashi became a Jounin, so he is not an adult yet and has not yet taught Naruto. The nine-tailed demon fox was sealed two years before this fic takes place. Rin and Obito have both already died (and if you do not know who they are go look up "Hatake Kakashi" on wikipedia for their relationship to him). **

**Kakashi will enter next chapter.**

**NARUTO (c MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**FORGOTTEN (c VIR M.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Candy Caper

Another Side

_A Naruto Fan-Fiction by Vir M._

Chapter 2:

**"The Candy-Caper"**

* * *

I stared in disbelief, jaw dropped.

Trees were the only things that stared back.

With the vanishing of the building, I had been left in a clearing. There was no airstrip, no terminal, no baggage claim, no nothing. There was one lone tree in the middle of the clearing, but nothing else. Simply dark foliage as far as the eye could see.

Which wasn't very far. The trees were pressed very close together all around the place where the airport had been, cutting off my field of vision.

My mouth worked for a moment as my mind came to terms with what my eyes were screaming. I chewed on air and the gulped, stretching out my right hand towards where the building had once stood, hoping to touch it and shock myself out of what I thought—on what I HOPED—was a hallucination.

I touched nothing, however; my hand met with empty air. My face paled slightly as I lowered my hand and clenched it into a fist at my side.

_A dream._ I thought mutedly. _This has got to be a dream. Buildings don't just up and bloody disappear. They don't back home, anyway._

I squeezed my eyes shut, braced myself, slipped my hand under the black pleated skirt I wore, and violently pinched myself on the thigh.

It hurt.

I swore and rubbed my inflamed skin, panic rising. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, eyes still shut.

_Not a dream, then._ I thought. _Dreams don't hurt that badly._

I wandered over to the side of the sun-lit clearing and peered into the dense tree-line. It was dark and forbidding, and all at once I was afraid of it. I did not want to go in there.

Instead, I wandered towards the lone tree in the center of the clearing. The sun was beating down on my head, and the tree provided the only shade outside of the forest's interior.

I dropped my navy messenger bag to the ground and threw myself to the ground. The grass felt light and springy beneath my hands and head, and my dark hair had flung itself out over the grass like a dark wave. I giggled at the imagery, and then closed my eyes.

I lay there for a while, jaded. The shadows were cool and soon I found myself becoming drowsy.

My stomach, however, was not quite that complacent. It growled and I sat up, hungry.

There were three bags of peanut butter M&Ms in my satchel, and the mere thought of them set my mouth watering. Those candies were my favourite food.

I rummaged in my bag for a moment and pulled out the first bag. The top of the package ripped open with a satisfying tearing noise, and I contentedly sat down to consuming the morsels. They were melted slightly from the time I had spent standing in the sun, and tasted deliciously nutty and good.

I ate the red ones first, as was my habit. Then I proceeded to eat the yellow, the green, the orange, the brown, and, finally, my favourite colour: blue.

There were only eight blue ones in this bag. I tossed them into the air and caught them in my teeth; a little ritual of mine. Once I had consumed seven of the eight, I stared sadly at the last morsel.

"The last…" I mused, slightly saddened at the prospect of 'no more.' "It always tastes the best." I shrugged and grinned. "Oh well."

I popped it into the air with a flick of my thumb and noticed the toss was high. It was well aimed, however, so I tilted my head back, mouth open, and waited for it to come back down.

Nothing happened.

I shut my mouth sharply as my eyes slit open, peering upside down into the tree above me. There was no way I could have missed, so where in the world had the candy gone—

My eyes popped open as my heart jumped into my throat.

Someone was sitting in the tree above me. I could see one out-stretched hand, holding the missing piece of candy.

"Shiite!" I yelped, scrambling to my feet. My heart beat nearly between my teeth. I stumbled towards the edge of the ring of shade and looked back up into the branches of the tree.

A boy, am few years older than me, was sitting nonchalantly on the lowest branch, one leg dangling idly as he leaned against the trunk, the other leg stretched out along the bough.

I noticed two things:

One was that he was the most mouthwatering individual I had had the opportunity to lay eyes on. His face was something out of the movies: a straight, arrogant nose, sultry coal-dark eyes, high cheekbones, a strong chin, full lips; the works. The only real flaw was a scar running vertically over his left eye, which he kept closed. It gave him a sleepy look that befitted his laid-back posture. His silvery shock of hair was swept casually to one side, giving him an air of relaxed, calculated awareness. The black cut-off shirt he was wearing revealed to-die for, beautifully toned arms. I couldn't really make out the rest of him, however, seeing as how the angle was all wrong.

The second—and more distressing thing—I noticed was that he was holding the last M&M.

"That's mine, fuck-face." I growled, shaking the admiring thoughts out of my head. I couldn't afford to be appreciative, not when my candy was on the line. "Give it back or I'll throttle you."

He looked at me for a moment, and then raised one elegantly arched eyebrow.

"Yeah I'm talking to you, bub." I snarled. "That's MY candy."

He stared at me another moment, and then recognition flashed in his dark eyes… er… eye. Delicately holding the blue sphere between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, he lifted his left and pointed at the M&M. Then he pointed at me, and back to the candy. I sighed, aggressiveness giving way to grudging patience.

"Yeah, man." I said shortly. "That—" I pointed at the candy. "Is MINE." I pointed at my chest. I then held out my hand in a 'gimme' gesture and flexed my fingers in a 'come here' motion. "Give it back."

He looked at me for another moment, and then spoke:

"Nani?" He asked. I mentally smacked myself on the forehead.

"We're in _Japan_, you shit head." I moaned to myself. "Of _course _he'd be speaking Japanese." I sighed again, straightened my back, and said in broken, Japanese: _"That candy is mine. I want it back. Now."_

I placed emphasis on the words translated as 'mine,' 'candy,' and 'now.'

The guy in the tree let out an "oh." I tapped my foot impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah." I said. "Now give it here." I made the 'gimme' motion again.

The man in the tree smiled down at me, and I had to mentally slap myself to keep from returning the look. He was _too_ handsome.

He then promptly flipped the M&M into the air, titled back his head, and caught it in his mouth. As I stared, jaw dropped, he chewed, swallowed, grinned roguishly, and held out one of his hands. The gesture obviously translated as:

_Got any more?_

I about killed him. I could see it in my head: me running up the tree, grabbing the little prick by the throat, wiping that lazy, arrogant smile off his face and squeezing the life out of him.

"DUDE!" I yelled instead, being unable to defy gravity and actually play out what I had envisioned. "WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK?" I stomped one of my feet as my nails dug into my palms. I could vaguely feel the shuriken I had never put down giving me lacerations the consistency of paper cuts across my hand.

His smile widened at the childish display; even though he could not understand the words, my meaning was clear.

And he obviously wasn't afraid of my intentions, if I read that lazy smile correctly.

"I'M GOING TO WHOOP YOUR BLOODY ASS, YOU GIT!" I roared. "WHY DONTCHA COME DOWN HERE AND TRY ME YOU LITTLE—" I pounded the fist holding the shuriken into my other palm.

The Candy-Caper's open eye narrowed at that, and his back straightened slightly. Tension wound in his eyes and arms, and all at once I felt a little bit frightened.

"Don't bristle like that." I snapped, sheepish. I looked at the ground beneath my feet, and then heard a deep chuckle float down from on high. I glared at him, baring my teeth. That chuckle had rekindled the fires of my fury.

"Fuck you!" I bellowed, raising my right hand to eye level and flipping him off. His own eyes widened slightly again, then rolled.

"Don't roll your eyes at me!" I said angrily. I shook my fist at him. "I'll wipe the floor with you!"

He looked at me incredulously, understanding my meaning via tone and gesture. I ground my teeth again.

"What, don't think I will?" I asked haughtily, crossing my arms and cocking my hip. I pointed at the ground in front of me with one finger lazily. "Then come on down, sugar. If you wanna test that, I'll be MORE than happy to—" I stopped short as he stood up, balancing precariously on the bough.

I was about to mumble a 'careful' or thereabouts, but the he made like the airport and vanished.

For what seemed to the ninetieth time today, my jaw went slack.

"Where did he--?" I began slowly. I was not able to complete the phrase, seeing as how someone grabbed the moment by the balls and placed a hand lightly on my shoulder.

I yelped and spun around, tearing myself out of the person's grasp.

It was the man in the tree.

He stood about three feet away from me, one arm still outstretched. He lowered it slowly as I watched, an absent smile on his face.

I stared at him, looked back at the tree, and then at him again. He wagged a finger at me, amused.

Then he said something in Japanese.

I couldn't understand it, but the tone of his voice was kindly condescending, and yet underlain by a sharpness I couldn't quite understand.

I liked the sound of his voice, though. It was deep and smooth, musical and resonating. It carried despite his lack of volume, and I shivered slightly at the sound of it. That voice paired with those looks was a devastating combination.

"Um…" I muttered, stepping back slightly. "Excuse me?" He spoke again and took a step forward, his advance matching my withdrawal as I continued to back away.

When he had been perched on the tree branch, I had been unaware of his height. Now that we were on equal ground, however, I realized that he towered over me. The top of my head barely reached his chin.

"Personal space, buddy." I laughed, holding my hands in front of me, palms facing him in an effort to ward him off.

He then reached out and grabbed my wrists.

I reacted by wrenching my hands out of his—or trying to, at least. His grip was like a vice, and I found myself flailing futilely.

I glared at the hands gripping me, cursing as I struggled—and then I heard him speak something in Japanese slowly enough so I could understand.

"_Look at me."_

My head jerked up, gaze locking with his. His single open eye was solemn. I glared.

"Let me go." My voice dropped slightly. "And back the fuck off."

He shook his head sadly.

And then he opened his left eye.

The iris was red, and in it swam three bleeding black dots. It took me a moment to take it in, but by the time I registered it fully—

—everything had faded into gray.

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**

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AUTHOR TIME**

**I also wrote this one way back in eighth grade. I edited it a little, but not much.**

**Yay for Kakashi! He can knock people out with his Sharingan! He did it in the Naruto movie, so I saw no reason why he should be unable to do it here, and she needed to be knocked out… so… Woot!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be from Kakashi's point of view, so hooray for that!!!**

**Please review for me! I need all the feedback I can get!**

**NARUTO/KAKSHI (c MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**SADIE (c VIR M.**


	4. Chapter 3: Questions

Another Side

_A Naruto Fan-Fiction by VirM._

Chapter Three:

From the point of view of Kakashi

**"Questions"

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**

Kakashi slipped back into his mask as the girl crumpled to the ground. He'd used a little more Sharingan power than necessary to black her out, and as he caught her before she hit the ground he felt the telltale signs of fatigue that always accompanied such exertion begin to creep up.

He lowered the girl gently to the grass-covered ground, thinking.

She was strange, this girl. Her accent was unlike anything he'd heard before, and Kakashi was very well traveled. The actual language that she spoke was also enigma to him, though she had known a little bit of the common tongue.

Her clothing was also unusual. She wore a short, pleated black skirt that looked very impractical, and a button-down top more suited to a cooler climate than the one they were occupying. Her shoes were not the open-toed sandals common to shinobi, but rather a white-toed, traction less number made out of thin-yet-durable black cloth.

Despite these things, however, it was her demeanor that posed the most mystery.

Her lack of awareness concerned him, for one. She had had no idea of his presence until he had snatched the candy from her, and had seemed shocked when he simply jumped from the tree to a spot behind her.

Also, the fact that she had offered hardly any resistance when he had shut down her mind with the Sharingan was mystifying. Her lack of proper mental barriers indicated no training.

She was no ninja, of that Kakashi was certain. And yet… the fact that she was clutching a shuriken said otherwise.

Kakashi looked down at the girl, studying her. She was lying on her side; eyes closed, breathing regular. Her long black hair had fallen over her face, partially obscuring her delicate features. She was a petite girl who looked like she had not quite stopped growing.

_She'll probably be pretty in a few years._ Kakshi mused to himself. _Right now she's just… but once she grows into herself a little more… _He smiled behind his mask and shook his head, clearing those thoughts away. He had more important things to worry about than girls.

He bent slowly, brushing her hair away from her face, and noticed absently that her fingers were callused at the tips.

_That could indicate familiarity with a weapon…_ He thought. Kakashi made a mental note of it and logged it away before slipping the bag the girl had been carrying over one shoulder. Kakashi bent, then slipped one arm underneath her knees and another behind her back. He lifted her with a grunt, holding her close to his chest so she would not fall.

He turned then, meaning to walk out of the clearing, and instead caught a whiff of the girl's scent.

There was something… off about the way she smelled. Nothing bad or repulsive; simply… different.

Kakashi leaned in closer, pressing his masked nose into her hair in order to get better purchase on the scent.

She smelled like a typical girl at first sniff. She obviously used cherry scented products, and the scent of a musky perfume clung close to her hair and skin. The strange scent was harder to detect, but there: it was elusive, and Kakashi was unable to place it.

Shrugging, he turned and made his way into the forest.

* * *

"So then you brought her here?"

Kakashi nodded yes to the third Hokage's question, face mostly obscured by both his mask and forehead guard. He had donned the latter item before entering the Hokage's office with the girl.

Kakashi had just finished telling the Hokage about the appearance of the strange girl: her odd accent and even odder language, her surprise at seeing Shinobi technique, her lack of mental barriers; everything.

"She also had this." Kakashi said quietly, leaning over the Hokage's desk to hand him the shuriken the girl had been clutching. "Her fingers are callused in places, too, which might indicate—"

"That she is familiar with weapons, yes," the Hokage finished, studying the throwing star. His eyes held a calmly perplexed look. "I noticed it when you brought her inside."

Kakashi's eyes flickered over to the couch set against the wall of the Hokage's office. For the past twelve minutes, the girl had lain unmoving on the cushions; eyes closed and body relaxed. She was blissfully unaware of her surroundings.

"I suppose we'll have to bring her around to get any information." The Hokage sighed and placed the shuriken inside one of his uniform's sleeves. He then leaned over to the intercom built into one side of his desk.

"Dispatch one medical ninja bearing smelling salts to my office, please," he said amiably into the microphone. There was a rush of static as someone gave an affirmative reply. Once the static died down, the Hokage leaned over, pressed the call button once again, and slowly said:

"Please summon Morino Ibiki to my office, as well."

Kakashi's blood ran cold at the thought of the Leaf Village's number one torturer. He sat still until the Hokage finished on the intercom, and then leaned forward in his seat.

"Do you think having _him _here is necessary?" Kakashi asked, single eye narrowed. "She seems to be nothing more than a—"

"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, Kakashi," the third Hokage said slowly. His voice was low, dangerous; it sent a brief chill down Kakashi's spine. "If this girl is, in fact, an enemy shinobi, we must be prepared to forcibly extract information from her." The man's eyes glittered. "Morino Ibiki is the most qualified to lead the way in that event, wouldn't you say?"

Kakashi could not say no.

Smiling, the Sandaime rose from his seat and walked over to one of the many shelves in his office. From one of the boxes lined up neatly on the shelf he extracted a blue scroll.

"This scroll contains a translation jutsu." He explained as he unrolled the scroll. "It will allow two people who have both signed in blood the ability to converse even if they speak different languages."

Kakashi sighed and said: "If you want me to sign into that jutsu with the girl, then we'd best do it while she is still asleep. She would never consent otherwise."

The Hokage laughed, much to Kakashi's annoyance.

"I figured," he chuckled. "Your description of her attitude told me that much." He promptly walked over to the girl and knelt by her side. He took her left hand in his and pryed open her fingers.

"Blood," he said, surprised. He then shook his head. "At least we won't have to cut her to get to it." He coated one of her fingers in blood and pressed it to a section of the scroll. Rising, he turned to Kakashi. "Now for you."

Kakashi had already slit his thumb with a kunai and was holding the bleeding digit out for the Hokage to use. Once Kakashi had pressed a fingerprint next to the girl's, the Hokage snapped the scroll shut.

"That should do it," he said. Kakashi stood stoic, unmoving, then pivoted to face the single door in the room as someone knocked on it.

"Lord Hokage?"

The door swung inward, revealing the scarred face of one Morino Ibiki. A young male medical ninja stood nervously behind him, shifting from foot to foot. He was clutching a vial of smelling salts in his right hand, and his eyes immediately flickered over to the young girl lying on the couch. He went to her without quickly, then busied himself with reviving her.

"This girl," said the Hokage slowly, gesturing, "was found alone in the forest bordering Konohagakure, and was apparently lost."

Ibiki nodded sagely as the Hokage filled him in on the situation. Kakashi stood silently, eyeing Ibiki warily.

"She's coming around, my lord."

The three ninja turned to the couch; the medical ninja was standing over the girl, blocking her from view. There came a low moan as he moved away from the couch, and then out of the room entirely. The Hokage nodded at him as the girl moaned again, then sat up.

She put a hand to her head, her eyes squeezed shut. Her teeth were bared, as if she was in pain.

"Bloody hell," she hissed from between clenched teeth, "my head hurts!"

Then her eyelids fluttered, then opened and grew very, very wide. They promptly narrowed into silver-hued slits as she glared first at Ibiki, then the Hokage, and finally Kakashi from beneath her thick eyelashes. Her fists clenched at her sides as she swung her legs off the side of the couch and stood up. Then she spoke, using the strange tongue Kakashi had never heard before, coloured with that even stranger accent:

"Hello… just where the bloody fuck am I?"

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**AUTHOR TIME**

**HA HA HA I suck at this POV. But… I was in eighth grade, so what can I do?**

**And about the whole "Kakashi smalles Sadie" thing. In the manga, Kakashi has a very, very keen sense of smell. XD**

**Anyway, it took me a while to update… because I forgot about this fic. Heh heh heh oops. Sorry. I'll try my hardest to update more quickly!**

**Next chapter we get to see Sadie get interrogated. Woot!**

**Thanks to COLORLESS.LYFE, HELLFIRES FURY, PUNKROCKER505, CANCERSTICK, and SURILA for adding this to their fav/alert lists!**

**REVIEW REPLIES:**

_CANCERSTICK: Sissy you're stalking me! Lol. And no, this is not the one based off of you. Sorry, that's comig soon though! Keep an eye out! But now that you mention it, she DOES remind me of you... so I guess you influenced her a bit. You DO love Kakashi, after all..._

_SURILA: Yay for updates! Thanks for the review!_

_FEATHERGIRL13: About the mask question: he just took it off when he was alone. I'll get to that little point next chapter (wink)_

_PUNKROCKER 505: I wrote about 9 chapters in 8th grade, but am editing them a bit as I go along. AND I LIKE YOU WRITING STYLE. WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS BEFORE!!!!! Xd lol Thanks for the three reviews! You ROCK!_

**NARUTO (C) Masashi Kishimoto**

**ANOTHER SIDE (C) Vir M.**


	5. Chapter 4: Connection

Another Side

_A Fan Fiction by Vir M._

From Sadie's Point of View

Chapter 4:

"**Connection"**

* * *

Alright, alright, so I talk a big game. So what if my knees were shaking and my head hurt so bad I could hardly see straight? That wasn't the point.

The POINT was that I needed to sound tough, and using the word 'fuck' is a good way to do it. After all, I was in a room full of strangers, three of them if you included the Candy Caper.

Not they could understand me or anything. I mean, if the events earlier in the day were any indication, they wouldn't know what I was saying.

Or could they? I started to question that little assumption when I saw the silver-haired kid from earlier wince as the curse left my lips.

For a few moments after I spoke, all was quiet. I stood there with my teeth clenched and fists balled up until the Candy-Thief turned to one of the two other men in the room.

The first man was older looking and had deep set black eyes. He was wrinkled and had a gray goatee, and was wearing an old looking set of robes. A triangular hat with the kanji for fire was rested on his head, and a pipe hung out of his mouth.

The other man was tall, and wore a black cloak. His face was heavily scarred, and he wore black gloves and a black handkerchief over the top of his head. I got the feeling he was bald beneath the cloth.

The boy from earlier said something to the two of them in rapid Japanese. Both of them raised an eyebrow at whatever it was he said. Then the older man in the fire hat replied quickly, and waved a hand at me.

"Um," I said. Gee, aren't I eloquent? Then I saw that the boy-about-my-age was staring at me, rather intently to boot.

"What?" I snapped crossly. "Was our little chit-chat earlier not enough for you, bub?"

"No, earlier was adequate. He just said to tell you that we mean you no harm."

My jaw dropped.

"Y-you—" I stammered, "You can speak—"

"I can for now," he said stiffly. I processed this.

"How?"

"Translation jutsu. I can understand you, you can understand me, but to everyone else you're still speaking gibberish. I am to act as the translator, or mediator, between you and the Hokage."

"Ho-what?"

"Hokage."

"Um…"

Obviously agitated, the silver-haired youth turned to the old man and began to speak rapidly. The old man's eyes opened wide in surprise as he voiced a reply.

"The Hokage is our leader," candy-stealer said, turning back to me. His right eye, the only feature of his not hidden by the mask and the weird metal plate he wore at a slant across his forehead, narrowed. "Every ninja village has a Kage, or shadow, to lead them." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the old man in the fire hat. "He's ours."

"Ninja?" I asked, glossing over the leader bit. "Did you say 'ninja'?"

"Er…" he muttered. The 'Hokage' said something to him and laid a hand on Candy-Boy's shoulder, offering me a kindly smile as he spoke. Candy-Boy's pale sliver of visible cheek flushed slightly.

"He says to have a seat, and that 'all will be explained shortly,'" he muttered, not looking at me. "And he asked me for you name." Behind him, the old man was pulling up chairs for the three men to sit on.

I sat down gratefully, knees all but buckling, and then raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it a bit more polite to offer your own name before asking for someone else's?" I asked with a sardonic smile. Candy-Boy stared at me a moment, muttered something to the old man, and stared at me. The Hokage laughed, then waved a hand in a 'go ahead' gesture.

"Kakashi," said Candy-Boy. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. That's Ibiki, and this is Sarutobi, our Hokage."

"Well, Kakashi," I primly replied, "now that we are all better acquainted, I'll have you know that my name is Sadie." I offered his another sour smile, which he did not return. He simply murmured my response back to the old man, who asked him another question, which was then relayed to me:

"How did you wind up on the outskirts of Konoha?"

I blinked at him, perplexed. "Where?"

"Konoha," he repeated patiently. I stared at him.

"Huh?" See, I _am_ eloquent!

"Konoha is the name of this village," he replied. I shook my head.

"Never heard of it."

It was his turn to stare. "What?"

"I was on a plane," I said, placing my elbows on my knees. I then leaned forward and rested my forehead on my fists. "And when I got off there was no one around, and—"

I then related to him everything that had happened: the trip to visit my grandmother, the deserted airport, the shuriken, the open field, the disappearing building. I even got out the address of my grandmother's home, which the old man relieved me of without comment. As I spoke, I heard Kakashi quietly relay my words back to the 'Hokage' in Japanese. The man in black—Ibiki—stood silently in the corner, face impassive. When I finished, the three men began to talk quietly amongst themselves.

"What?" I asked. They ignored me. "Hey!"

Kakashi glanced my way, then shrugged. My blood boiled.

"We're debating whether or not to believe you," Kakashi said blandly. "You _could_ be an enemy ninja."

"Ninja. Right. Just who do you think I am, Lord Gullible or something? Ninja don't exist any more!"

Kakashi's single eyebrow raised as he dutifully related this to the old man; his face was inscrutable behind the mask.

"And why the mask?" I asked, remembering his earlier state. "It chafes."

Kakashi's eye narrowed, and the Hokage asked him something. When Kakashi replied in quick Japanese, I was able to understand his reply to mean something along the lines of: 'nothing.'

The Hokage raised an eyebrow, then repeated the question. Kakashi sighed, defeated, and said something slowly. A look of shock spread across the Hokage's face, and then one of amusement took its place. He laughed, said something, and gestured for Kakashi to translate.

"What did he say?" I asked as I saw Kakashi hesitate. Kakashi's look turned dark.

"He said you were a lucky girl."

"Why'zat? I asked, perplexed. Kakashi grumbled:

"Not many people have seen me without the mask. He was amused that you'd already gotten a look."

I scoffed at that. "Big whoop. It's not like I saw anything worth mentioning."

Inside, however, I was blushing madly at the memory or his exposed face. He HAD been pretty damn cute---

_Bad Sadie,_ I thought, mentally beating myself with a stick. _Bad, bad, BAD!_ Kakashi was glaring at me, and he must have translated my spoken words aloud because the old man and Ibiki were both roaring with laughter.

"Can I go home now?" I asked. Kakashi translated dutifully, and the laughter abruptly ceased.

The Hokage's face was grim as he spoke. Kakashi turned to me one the ond man had finished speaking,

"We have deemed that you are not an enemy ninja," he said, "because you are too innocently unaware of your surroundings. Ibiki here," he waved a hand at the silent man, "has informed is that you are not lying about what you say. He would be able to tell if you were."

I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again as Kakashi continued:

"But your story is too far fetched to merit our belief. The Hokage has deemed that, while he mulls over your claims and does a little investigating of his own, that a shinobi from our village will watch over you until he has decided on a course of action."

I sighed.

"Joy," I said. I ran a hand through my hair, and light tendrils of it fell forward to shroud my face. "Peachy." I looked up at the Hokage. "What do I do in the mean time?"

Kakashi relayed the message; the Hokage answered. Kakashi conveyed the words back to me.

"Go sightseeing, I suppose. Whatever you'd like."

I pillowed my head in my hands, and my throat felt thick.

"Where am I going to stay?"

The translation wheel ran it's course again: me to Kakashi, Kakashi to the old man, the old man to Kakashi, and Kakashi back to me.

"He says that an apartment will be arranged for you, and that you will be put on a weekly budget for the time being. At the end of this week, he will give you an update on the matter, and every week after that for as long as it takes."

I looked up at Kakashi. He was staring at me, as were the two older men.

"Who's going to be staying with me?" I asked. The translation was relayed again, and Kakashi's look darkened at the Hokage's answer. He said something gruffly, obviously angry, but the Hokage shook his head. Kakashi turned back to me, face grim… and resigned.

"I am," he said. My jaw went slack.

"You," I said. He nodded grudgingly.

"Unfortunately for the both of us," he replied grimly, "the Hokage is adamant on the subject. He says that the less people who know about you the better, and since I'm already connected to you via the translation spell…" he trailed off. I sighed.

"Whatever," I muttered. "I'll probably wake up from this nightmare soon, and realize that it was all just a bad dream."

"Oh, you're not dreaming," Kakashi said idly, leaning back in his chair. I chuckled, though there was no humor in it.

This was promising to be a long, long week.

I had the feeling that I would loathe every minute of it.

* * *

**AUTHOR TIME**

**Well… boring, I must say, but the info was needed.**

**So Kakashi will have to stay with her almost all of the time. They're BOUND to get on each other's nerves. What FUN for us, eh? MWA HA HA!!!**

**Thanks to "Punkrocker"and "dptmxjek" for the recent reviews! Here's another quickly edited 8th grade chapter! WooT! I've got more coming!**

**The next chapter is pretty... er... funy, I guess? Yeah, funny. It makes up for the boringness of this chapter. I'll upload it soon, but not all at once because I don't want to spoil you guys! **

**Cheerio!**

**NARUTO (C) MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE (C) Vir M.**


	6. Chapter 5: Creepy

Another Side

_A Fan Fiction by Vir M._

From the POV of Kakashi

Chapter 5:

"**Creepy"

* * *

**

The Hokage dismissed us quickly, and as Morino Ibiki led Sadie and I from the room, the Hokage grabbed my arm.

"Yes, sir?" I said quietly, meeting his eyes. He pressed a sealed envelope into my hand.

"Her apartment is in your complex, and I've placed a copy of the address in here, as well as a bit of spending money for the girl. Knowing women, she'll want clothes, and quickly," he said. His eyes were solemn. "I am sorry I landed you with this, but the two of you are about the same age, so I feel she will be more comfortable with you than she would be with an adult."

I nodded, not saying anything. I stared at Sadie's retreating back for a long moment, then spoke.

"Do you really think she's being honest?" I asked. I looked back at Sarutobi. "Is she really from another world?"

"I… don't know for certain," said the Hokage slowly. He, like me, turned to stare at the girl as she walked further down the hallway away from the office, Ibiki at her side. "But her words rang true, and Ibiki knows liars. He would have warned us if she was being untruthful." He smiled at me for a moment. "Try to make her feel at home, Kakashi. God knows what she's feeling right now."

I nodded once. "I'll try," I said, and then followed the mystery that was Sadie down the corridor.

* * *

"So how old are you?"

The girl eyed me warily, her silvery eyes flashing in the mid-afternoon sun. "Whudda _you_ care?"

Sadie and I were walking slowly down Konoha's main street, on our way to the apartments. The bustle of the city lulled gently in the background.

Sadie had remained uncharacteristically silent ever since we left the Hokage's office. Her eyes darted over everything as we walked past vendors and shops, taking in the sights, sounds, and textures of Konoha.

I remained silent, knowing that if I did she would answer my question. Sure enough, a few silent steps later she sighed and said:

"I'll be sixteen in a few weeks." She paused for a moment, and then said: "How about you?"

"I'll be seventeen in two months," I replied. She 'oh'-ed and fell silent. I frowned.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"No," she said indignantly. "I'm just a bit tired, and—OH CRAP!"

She stopped dead in the middle of the road, one hand over her mouth. I looked at her, alarmed.

"What?" I asked. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"My bag!" she moaned. "I never got it! Now I don't have any _clothes_!"

I chuckled. She glared.

"What?!"

"Nothing," I muttered. "It's just that the Hokage, right before we walked out, told me that you probably would want to go shopping." I rummaged in my pocket a bit and pulled out the envelope he had given me. "He gave me some money just for that purpose, actually." I extended it to her with a smile. "Here you go."

She stared up at me, slowly lowering the hand. Then she blushed, and to cover it she snatched the envelope with a haughty look of indifference.

"Thank you," she said primly. She casually flicked a strand of her long black hair out of her face. Then she looked at me skeptically: "I don't suppose you'd know a place where a girl could get some decent articles of dress, would you?"

I swallowed. "There's a shopping district nearby, if you'd like to take a look."

She let out a sigh. "Sounds peachy. Lead on."

* * *

The first store we went into sold jeans. She picked a few different sizes off a rack and said: "I'm going to pop into a changing room for a bit, just to see how you blokes size things out here." She was gone for promptly ten minutes, and came out holding a single pair of pants. She purchased them and a few tank tops, along with several pairs of plain demin shorts that I was pretty sure would be considered indecent if she ever wore them in public.

"Don't give me that look," she snapped as I handed the cash over to her. "I know what you're thinking, and I only plan to wear these around the house, okay? Blimey…" She shook her head, and I decided that the safest course of action would to forgo making a comment.

The second store we went into was, of all things, a thrift shop.

"What do you expect to find here?" I asked as we entered the building. It smelled a bit musty, and I felt my nose involuntarily wrinkle.

"Treasure," she said, perfectly straight-faced. She promptly headed over to rack of out-dated tops. Catching my look of incredulity, she said: "You can find all sorts of cool things in thrifts; you just have to know how to look." She plucked something off of the rack and held it up. "Like this, for instance. Look!"

She held up a short black dress with spaghetti-straps. "This would look great with accessories, and it's cheap to boot!"

"Uh-huh," I said, pretending to understand. I had never understood the whole 'enthusiastic about shopping' attitude women seemed to embrace so easily.

Sadie frowned at me comically. "If you're going to be a bastard and act like you're above all this, you might as well make yourself useful while doing it. Hold this." She then thrust the bag containing the jeans at me. I sighed and accepted it, smiling behind my mask.

Sadie bought several things at the store: a few skirts, a few tops, a pair of shoes, the black dress, and a very inexpensive yet high-quality leather jacket that I was surprised to see.

"It's a nice jacket," I said. She beamed at me, cheeks flushed hectically.

"I _told_ you thrift stores were treasure troves!"

I smiled at her enthusiasm; she seemed a lot happier than she had been earlier.

"Are there any convenient stores around here?" she asked. I nodded.

"What for?"

"Toothbrush, soap, things like that," she said offhandedly. Then she looked around us, taking in all of the shops she hadn't visited; we were still in the shopping district. "I still need to get some pajamas, and—"

Suddenly she froze, staring. I followed her gaze, then quickly snapped my eyes back to her.

_So that's what she's getting at,_ I thought. I felt my face flush, but luckily I was wearing the mask so it didn't really matter.

"Um," she said, looking away. "Could you wait here a little while?"

"Sure," I said quickly. Sadie bustled off without another word.

I watched her go, then took another glance at the shop she's been eyeing.

'Kunoichis' Secret,' the chain women's undergarment store.

* * *

She popped back out a few minutes later, holding a small black bag. She stuffed it into another of her shopping bags before she reached me, but I could still see that she was a bit embarrassed.

"Onward," she said, face pink. I nodded, and decided once again that silence was the best route to take in this situation.

We hadn't gotten very far when I heard what has to be the most annoying voice in the world calling my name.

"OH KAKASHI! I SEE YOU! YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME, KONOHA'S BEAST: MAITO GAI!"

I turned around slowly, running a hand through my hair. Sadie looked up at me, confused, and then caught sight of the figure running towards us.

His bowl-cut, shining black hair bounced jauntily as he sprinted towards us, and his thick black eyebrows were set in a look of intense determination.

"Kakashi!" he yelled, slowing down as he neared us. "I have found you once again, my rival! It is time for us to do battle like men would! I CHALLENGE YOU!!"

"Hello, Gai," I said offhandedly. "Nice to see you too, but I'm afraid I am a bit busy at the moment, and—"

"No weaseling out of THIS one, rival!" he said loudly, striking a pose. I cringed inside. "I see that you cringe from the wrath of your rival, but fear not! I will not strike you down this day, for—"

"Just who the bloody hell is this bloke?"

I turned slowly at the sound of Sadie's dry voice. She was standing quietly beside me, nostrils flared and hip cocked. Her fingers drummed lightly on the hip as she stared at Gai in what appeared to be disbelief.

"This," I said, clearing my throat, "is Gai."

"I gathered that," she muttered, eyeing him warily. "A bit touched in the head, is he?"

I swallowed. "You could say that." I turned back to Gai. "Now Gai, I—" But Gai was no longer looking at me. He was staring at Sadie.

"Hello," he said. He flashed her a smile with his abnormally bright teeth. "Who are you, Lovely Lady?"

I mentally committed seppuku.

"Er…" Sadie muttered.

"Gai," I said. Gai's eyed flickered over to me, flashing annoyance. "This is Sadie. She doesn't speak our language."

Gai's eyes brightened in comprehension.

"I see!" he said. His smile widened, and then he reached out and grabbed both of Sadie's hands in his own. "But fear not, fair maiden! The language of love needs no words, for I—"

Sadie's face had frozen solid, jaw dropped. Then her mouth snapped shut, and she brained Gai across the face with her shopping bag. He went down faster than a heist.

"No, Kakashi, no translation was needed for that, but thank you so _very_ much for offering!" she snarled. She promptly retreated and stood behind me, out of the prostrate Gai's line of sight. "He's CREEPY!"

I stood there in stunned silence, then stammered: "Yes, I suppose he is…"

Gai, having recovered from the blow, rolled to his feet, nose streaming blood.

"Ah, a fire dwells within the heart of Sadie!" he cried. "The damsel plays hard to get, but I shall persevere!" He struck another pose, then turned in a pirouette. "Further more, I—"

"Kakashi?"

I glanced behind me as Gai rattled on, oblivious. Sadie's look was desperate.

"Exit, stage left?" she whispered hopefully. I thought a moment, nodded, then grabbed her hand and ran.

* * *

**AUTHOR TIME **

**Kunoichi Secret… hoo-boy. Spin off of Victoria's. I had to come up with SOMETHING.**

**Forgive me if I am failing miserably, but I tried to keep Gai and Kakashi in character. They're supposed to be a bit less mature than they are in the manga, due to them being younger, but… I THINK I'm doing fairly well. Lemme know if I screwed up.**

**And I am sorry if I am overdoing Sadie's British-ness. I'm trying to make her sound British, but I'm NOT British and I don't have any British friends, so… yeah. I dunno if I'm doing it right or not. If you know any British colloquialisms, please tell me about them so I can use them. **

**(SOB) Sadly, no one reviewed the last chapter. Oh well. Please R&R!!**

**NARUTO (C) MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE (C) VIR M.**


	7. Chapter 6: The Offer

Another Side

_A Fan Fiction by Vir M._

From the POV of Kakashi

Chapter 6:

"**The Offer"

* * *

**

"Do you think we lost him?"

"Probably. I can't hear him professing his undying love for you anymore, if that counts for anything."

"Does he do this to all the girls, or…?"

"Well …most of them."

While Gai was distracted with his little speech, Sadie and I had darted off and taken refuge in—where else?—Kunoichis' Secret. It was the only place I could think of that I knew Gai would NOT go into. No one would ever accuse HIM of being a pervert, no sir.

Sadie and I were crouched behind a mannequin wearing a very scanty rhinestone getup, trying to stay quiet. A shop girl was eyeing us uncertainly, but a look at my _hitai-ate_ had convinced her to not bother us. Funny how those things can come in handy some times.

"What's with his eyebrows?" Sadie whispered. I suppressed a grin.

"They're just… like that," I said blandly, trying hard to keep the laughter out of my voice. "They've always been like that—he hasn't changed since we were kids." She frowned, peering out at the street from between the mannequin's plastic legs. The position was so awkward I couldn't help but laugh, though I managed to mostly smother it with a shaking cough.

"Warn me whenever his birthday rolls around," she said with a completely straight face. "I'll get him a wax kit… or three."

This time I couldn't help but laugh aloud. Sadie merely raised an eyebrow and snorted.

"Well, we're not getting any younger," she said, standing up with a grunt. I killed the chortle and followed suit.

"Do you want me to show you to your apartment now?" I asked once we had safely exited the store. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye as we began to walk warily back the way we had come.

"Okay," she mumbled. As I adjusted my steps towards the general direction of the apartments, I frowned behind my mask.

"Why so glum?" The words were out before I really thought about them. Sadie's face morphed into a look of surprise as she swiveled her head around to face me. I stared back, trying to appear neutral. Inside, however, I was a bit concerned by her mood swing.

"It's…" she mumbled, looking down at her walking feet. "It's just that… I was so freaked when I got here, and…" She looked back at me again, expression torn, dazed… and a little pained. "I was having fun back there, even though I know I should be wigging out, you get me?"

Her accent grew thicker with each word, and by the end of her little speech I had barely been able to understand her.

"I mean, I just possibly fell through a _rip in the time space continuum_ for Chrissake— and here I am _running around shopping_ and _getting hit on_ by beetle-browed teens in freaky jumpsuits. I was back there LAUGHING, having FUN with a guy I thought I hated initially for being a total GIT and—" A hand flew to her mouth at that last phrase. I raised an eyebrow.

"A 'git'?"

Her face flushed as she avoided my eyes.

"Well, you DID steal my candy."

"That doesn't necessarily constitute being a git."

"Hey hey hey hey HEY—" Sadie said heatedly, stopping in the street to place one shopping-bag-laden hand on her hip. "You dunno anything about me and my candy. My sugar fix is an important part of my diet, m-kay?"

The seriousness of her face combined with the bizarreness of her statement almost made me laugh aloud.

"And besides," she sniffed, "you acted all high and mighty during that little interrogation and it annoyed me." She gave me a prim, sarcastic smile and began to walk briskly. I moved to catch up.

We were mostly silent for the rest of our walk, save for the moments where I would say "turn right up here," etc. Eventually, just as the sun was beginning to set, we reached the apartment building.

The building was three stories tall, made of plain red brick built in the shape of a rather thick-ish rectangle, and located just on the border between the residential area of town and the commercial center. There were five apartments on each floor. Mine was on the second, around the back of the building facing a stretch of woods, as was Sadie's. Two concrete staircases, one on each of the shorter sides of the building, ran all the way up to the roof. They were both open to the elements, but had a ceiling level with the roof. There was no elevator and the apartments were modest, but the rent was cheap and the location was ideal. It was home.

"Here we are," I said. "Your key is in the envelope I gave you earlier; the one with the money in it." Then I started for the stairs. I heard Sadie follow me. "I'm next door to you, in apartment 10, so if you need anything just ask and I'll see what I can do."

For the next few moments we climbed in silence. As we reached the second level, Sadie stopped and began to fumble in her pockets for the key. Once she found it, she held the small stainless steel piece up to the light of the dying sun, squinting at the numbers etched into the metal.

"I'm in number 9," she said. She glanced at me, then pursed her lips. "Well, lead on; not getting any younger here."

I smiled slightly and motioned for her to follow. We walked around the back of the building, and I stopped in front of her door. A silver number, a '9', had been placed above the frame.

She breezed past me, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

The apartments, as I have said, were modest: an low-slung entryway where shoe-removal took place, an adjoining living room, a small kitchen, and a bedroom were the only spaces, sans the coat closet by the door and the other closet in the bedroom. There was also a balcony off the kitchen, but that did not count as much of a room seeing as how it only had dimensions of two-by-one meters. Her place was identical to mine, except that her furniture (a black faux-leather and wood ensemble) looked new.

She wandered in uncertainly, drifting around on tired feet. I stepped in after her, then watched her disappear into the living room. She did not remove her shoes.

I set her shopping bags down on the floor, then straightened in time to see her reappear at the shoe-drop ledge. She worried her bottom lip with her top teeth for a moment, staring through me out the open door.

"How do you like it?" I asked. She snapped out of whatever daze she'd been in and focused on me.

"It's a nice place," she said, "snug." Then she shrugged, and finished with: "I like it."

I smiled at her. She began to gnaw on her lip again. Then she spoke, her face hesitant:

"Hey, um, Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For today, I mean."

"It's nothing."

Silence for a moment, and then:

"I just… you know… this is kind of…" she trailed off. My heart gave a sympathetic pang.

"I understand," I said, holding my hands up in the universal gesture that meant "no explanation needed". She tried to smile, but failed and grimaced.

I stood a moment, feeling awkward. Then I smiled again and said:

"If you want, I can show you around Konoha tomorrow."

Her face went from awkward to shocked to thankful in the span of a second.

"R-really?" Sadie asked. I quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, really. Why would I not be serious?" I chuckled. She flushed slightly.

"Well… thanks," she smiled. She brushed a strand of her ink-dark hair out of her eyes, then repeated: "Thanks. I owe you one."

"I'll be over around 10 o'clock." I was grinning behind the mask at her wide smile. "See you, Sadie." I lifted a hand in farewell, and then walked out of her door and into the orange-gold light of dusk.

* * *

**

* * *

AUTHOR TIME**

**Awkward moment there at the end. EEK. Anyway, writing from Kakashi's POV is a lot easier than I expected. That's what, three chapters from his POV now? Don't worry though, Sadie takes back over next chapter. WOOT!**

**Next chapter we get a tour around Konoha from Sadie's POV. Oh, fun.**

**And by the way, this fic isn't an action fic, which many Naruto fans will get turned off by. However, all you drama people… stick around. Have fun reading! (The genre of this fic is a combo of Drama and slight romance, though only slight. It's full blown in this thing's sequel.)**

**NARUTO © MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE © VIR M.**


	8. Chapter 7: Schizophrenic Conversations

Another Side

_A Fan-Fiction by Vir M._

From the Point of View of Sadie:

Chapter 07:

"**Schizophrenic Conversations"

* * *

**

I waited for the door to close. When it did, I sank to the floor and cried.

_What am I doing?_

The thought surfaced out of nowhere, echoing clearly in my head despite the volume of my sobs. With it, I began to argue with myself. It was fun-loving me vs. my more pessimistic side.

_I feel guilty for some reason, but I'm not doing anything wrong! I'm just…_

_Enjoying your self?_

_Th--There's nothing wrong with that! I'm making light of the situation!_

_Yeah, you are. But at what cost? You should be finding a way home!_

_I'm in a different WORLD, for Chrissake! This is too—_

'_Much for me to handle'? Since when did you become so helpless?_

_Oh dear GOD help me, Evil Sadie is finishing my sentences._

'_God helps those who help themselves.'_

_Okay, now you're just being facetious._

_If—_

"'_If it works, then it works,' right? See how much YOU like to be interrupted?_

_Get off your ass, Sadie, please. _

_You're not my mother!_

_You're right, I'm not. It's even worse—I'm YOU._

I shut the voice out and turned the tears off, hoping that doing something (such as unpacking) might ease my steadily fraying nerves.

Wiping my eyes, I stood and fetched the shopping bags Kakashi had set down by the door, then walked into the living room.

The room was small, with a single long couch, a coffee table and an easy chair, as well as a freestanding floor lamp. A small TV sat on a stand in the corner by the entry hall.

The cramped kitchen was off the left side of the room, and was ringed with cabinets. It contained a dual stove/oven, a fridge, and a sink. There was also a pantry, and at the back of the kitchen there was sliding glass door that entered out onto a small balcony that faced a stretch of woodland.

On the right side of the living room was a hallway that led to the bed and bathroom. It was to here I took my things.

The bedroom was slightly smaller than the living room, and contained a double bed with a black comforter, white pillows, and a bedside table. The closet led off to the left of the door. The bathroom was farther down the hall.

I walked in and set my bags down on the floor. Then I opened the closet.

It contained drawers on one wall, a bar and hangers for hanging clothes on the other, and shelves for shoes or hats all along the back wall. I took a hanger off the bar, walked over to my bags, pulled out my new jacket, then hung it up. Taking another handful of hangers, I started on the rest of my clothes.

* * *

It took a little while, but soon I was almost completely unpacked. My clothes were hung, my shoes were neatly arranged, my toiletries were all unpacked and had been placed in the plain black-tiled bathroom, and the shopping bags had been stored away in the bottom of my closet in case I ever needed to use them again. My messenger back, which had contained my CD collection and several books, had been emptied into the drawers on the bedside. 

I collapsed onto my new bed and hugged one of the white pillows to my chest. Curling up in a little ball, all of my fears and apprehensions came flooding back into me, returning with a vengeance now that my hands were no longer distracted by busy work.

The problem wasn't _only_ what I had told Kakashi earlier, though that DID have something to do with it. I WAS feeling like I should be searching for a way home, and not talking and laughing and having fun with a boy I barely knew.

It was more… that I felt I had betrayed my family, my home, my world.

_I'm helpless here,_ I thought. _I know nothing of this culture, this place, these people. They speak a different language and follow customs I can only begin to learn._

Suddenly I was struck with a sharp pang of homesickness.

_I wanna go home,_ I thought. The tears came again, falling hard and fast. I buried my face into the pillow, clutching at it like a life raft. I felt that if I did not hold onto something I would fly to pieces

Who knew?

In the next few seconds I very well could. Hell, stranger things had happened.

This whole crazy "let's get off a plane and wind up in Ninja Land" was one of them.

* * *

**

* * *

AUTHOR TIME **

**I don't really like this chapter, because it more or less does nothing for the story line. It does, however, set up ambience and the lay-out of Sadie's apartment. For that, I am grateful. It also touches on how helpless Sadie feels about the whole situation. NEXT CHAPTER HAS THE TOUR AROUND KONOHA!!!**

**REVIEW REPLIES:**

**FEATHER GIRL 13: Thanks a bunch! You are TOO kind!**

**PR505: Most of my fics are drama, so I get a lot of those lame-ass "This is an action show so you HAVE to write action fan fiction" type of reviews/comments. I mean REALLY though, there's tons of yaoi/hyper fangirl dramas on this site that get ALL of the attention, and they have little to no action at all (and lots of the time the only thing they DO have is a clichéd plot line)! Not that I'm complaining or anything, but the OC fics taking place in an action fandom usually end up being Mary Sue. I mean, the OC s get all the powers and special abilities if you make it actiony! Going for drama is pretty much the only way I know how to make action fandoms have OC s that are NOT Mary Sue.**

**RYUSHUKI: Hey, I'm not complaining about your multiple reviews. I wish more people would do it! And I'll stop harping on the whole 8th grade thing (I'm getting pretty annoying I'll bet)… Thanks again for reviewing!**

**Sorry if I missed anybody! I'm in a hurry! Next chapter is actually EVENTFUL!!!**

**NARUTO (C) MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE (C) VIR M.**


	9. Chapter 8: Punctuality

Another Side

_A Fan Fiction By Vir M._

From the Point Of View Of Sadie

Chapter 8:

**"Punctuality"**

**

* * *

**

After I'd had a good cry, I fell into an exhausted sleep.

The next morning, I was woken up by a shaft of sunlight filtering in through the small bare window in my room. I rolled onto my back, grimacing at the light highlighting the white paint on my ceiling. After I blinked myself into wakefulness, I sat up and rubbed my face with one hand.

"Must… buy… curtains…" I mumbled, squinting in the light. "I'll have to get Kakashi to—"

My eyes grew wide.

_Kakashi._

"What time is it?!" I yelped, scrambling off of my bed. I rushed into the kitchen and glanced at the digital clock mounted above the stove. It read 7:55.

I breathed a sigh of relief and ran a hand through my unbound hair. I had plenty of time until… when had he said he'd come? Ten o'clock?

"I need a shower," I said aloud. Looking down at myself, I remembered that I hadn't even undressed before going to sleep the night before. My pleated skirt was rumpled and my shirt was creased beyond remedy. Immediately I headed for the bathroom, then doubled back to my bedroom. Once inside, I picked out a new outfit to wear: a pair of jeans and a black tank top. Then I went down the hall and bathed.

As soon as I smelled pretty I got out of the bath and blow-dried my hair using the dismally low-watt dryer installed by the landlord previous to my residency. Finding a better dryer became yet another item on my ever lengthening list of things to do. After that I dressed and sat down on the couch in the living room to wait. The clock read 9:30.

I channel surfed on the small TV while I waited—nothing good was on, and all of it was in unintelligible Japanese. I then read one of the books I had brought with me from home. That got boring quickly, and I ended up pacing for a near half-hour.

I was still pacing by the time the digital clock said 10:45.

"He's late," I said through grit teeth. My feet were pounding away at the carpet covering the apartment floor. I had never been a patient person, and this was pushing me to the limit. My fists were clenched so tightly they had begun to cramp.

I glanced at the clock as I stomped through the kitchen once again: 10: 55.

"That's IT!" I yelled, coming to an abrupt stop. The linoleum squeaked in protest as I skidded across it in my converse. "I am NOT waiting anymore!"

And with that, I flew back into the living room, grabbed my messenger bag that was to serve me as a purse, and walked out of my apartment.

* * *

I walked furiously down to apartment number 10, AKA Kakashi's place, and pounded five times hard on the door.

Nobody answered.

I knocked again, more quickly but with less volume.

Still no answer.

"Don't make me come in there," I muttered under my breath, stepping back to stare at the wooden portal. Silence greeted me.

I gnawed on my bottom lip and snuck a glance at my watch: 11: 05.

"I she even at home?" I asked myself. Squaring my shoulders, I slowly whispered: "Only one way to find out…"

I walked forward and laid a hand on the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, I twisted it, fully expecting to be greeted by the resistance of a deadbolt or chain.

Instead, the door swung silently inward on well-oiled hinges. I suppressed a gasp.

"Kakashi?" I called hesitantly, taking a single step inside. The interior was dim, and as I walked forward I nearly tripped over a pair of the sandals Kakashi had been sporting yesterday. "The door was open so I let myself in… where are you?"

No one answered. I frowned.

Kakashi's apartment was identical to mine, so I felt I knew my way around fairly well despite never have setting foot in the place prior to today. As I stepped over the shoe-ledge in the entry hall, I looked around to see if I could discern any differences between the two homes.

There were none that I could see upon entering the living room. His TV was a bit larger then mine, and a stereo system had been placed in the back corner, but architecturally our places were identical. His furniture was a more worn looking version of my own, and it seemed that he had added several chairs and rugs to the ensemble. A few potted plants had been added as well.

Also, there were the additions of Kakashi's personal belongings: books, mostly. His coffee table was covered in them, and a bookshelf along the wall separating the kitchen and the living room contained several dozen scrolls in addition to weighty tomes. The shelves were practically sagging beneath their neatly organized weight.

"Kakashi?" I called again. Taking a step to my right, I entered the dim hallway leading to where I knew his bedroom was located.

_I really shouldn't be doing this,_ I thought as I approached his room. _I mean, I'm invading his bloody privacy and such, and—_As I reached Kakashi's door, I noticed that it was closed. Laying my hand on the knob, I took a deep breath.

_This isn't right. I mean, he could be naked in there or something. _

Suddenly the "Evil Sadie" popped up again. I groaned mentally as yet another schizophrenic argument ensued.

_Well, he DID leave his door open._

_Still, I shouldn't just barge in like this._

_But he said 10 o'clock. It's after 11. He's LATE, Sade-ster, and he deserves whatever it is he's got coming to him._

_But—_

_No, no buts. You march your arse in there and wake him the bloody hell UP if he's still snoozing._

_But what if he IS naked?_

The Evil Me feel into contemplative silence before speaking up again:

_All the more reason to head on in._

_You're diabolical._

_No more so than YOU, my darling Other Half; no more so than you._

And with that I turned the knob.

* * *

Apparently Kakashi had also not bothered to invest in any curtains, for his room reflected the sunny world outside. His room was arranged differently than my own: he had a larger window on a different wall, and his simple bed was pressed right up against the wall below it, directly across from the door. His comforter was green with a weird black windmill pattern all over it, edged in white. It was rumpled and askew, and a Kakashi was lying in it peacefully, face blank.

His shock of silver hair stood out like a beacon against the green, and he was once again maskless. His comforter, however, was pulled up over his chin, and his left hand was balled up into his scarred eye. It was a convoluted mirror of the mask and head band he wore in public, mimicked by the placement of his hand and bedclothes. His other had was not visible, but he was wearing a loose white shirt on his one showing arm. The sun filtering in through the shroud less window illuminated his pale skin and unusual hair; he was almost glowing.

I only got to look at him for a brief second, however, seeing as how he woke up almost immediately.

He sat up completely straight, eyes open and wild, the sheets tumbling off of his face. The mismatched red and black burned into me, and I forgot to breathe.

His arm, as he bolted upright, had gone flying in a throwing motion. A sharp breeze ran past me, and a trial of fire blossomed across my right left cheek, just beneath my eye.

It happened too quickly for me to really process what had transpired. It was only when I heard the humming of steel coming from just behind my left ear, and turned around to focus in on the source of the sound, did I understand it.

A piece of metal—a knife—with a ring on one end and a wicked point on the other was buried in the doorframe next to my face.

I numbly reached a hand up to my burning cheek, then looked down at my fingers.

They were smeared with red.

Blood.

My blood.

"Sadie?!" I heard a confused voice ask. It was Kakashi's voice. He sounded alarmed, though in my shocked state I could not imagine why.

"Good," I whispered, turning back to face the man who had nearly killed me, "morning?"

He was standing there open mouthed. Then his face began to swim before my eyes. I saw him reach for me, but it was too late for me to do anything about it.

I had fainted dead away.

* * *

**AUTHOR TIME **

**DAMN THOSE NINJA REFLEXES!!! DAMN THEM!!! HE SCARED SADIE SENSELESS!!!**

**And those conversations between Sadie and Evil Sadie amuse me greatly. Just thought I'd let you know.**

**Anyway no review replies this time around... seeing as how I got no reviews. Whoops. I love you all anyway, you mystery readers!**

**Next time: Questions and the BLOODY TOUR!!!! Tensions rise!!**

**NARUTO (C) MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**SADIE (C) VIR M.**


	10. Chapter 9: Crooked Smile

Another Side

_A Fan-Fiction by Vir M._

From the Point of View of Kakashi

Chapter 9:

**"Crooked Smile"**

* * *

I bolted out of bed as Sadie fell to the ground for the second time in two days and caught her just before she hit the floor. The kunai in the wall was still humming slightly. Grimacing, I lowered her gently to the carpet and pillowed her head on one of the cushions that had fallen off of my bed as I has sat up and thrown the knife at her. 

_Dammit,_ I thought._ What in the hell was that?_

Sadie's face, as she saw the knife that had very nearly killed her, had looked frightened beyond all reason. I was feeling much the same way inside, but for different reasons.

You see, I hadn't sensed her enter the apartment.

Pushing the enigma that was Sadie out of my mind, I arranged the girl so that she was lying comfortably, then went into the bathroom down the hall for smelling salts and a first aid kit.

_She's getting pretty well acquainted with these, _I thought with a small smile as I unwrapped the salts. Placing them under her nose, I wiped the look away and let my face fall into an impassive expression that would more benefit the situation.

Sadie inhaled in her sleep then sneezed loudly, opening her eyes wide. She sat up, rubbing the back of her head gingerly with one hand. I backed a few feet away, but stayed crouched beside her.

"Are you alright?" I asked. She moaned and placed her head in her hands, planting her elbows into her knees.

"What happened?" she asked. I sighed.

"You fainted."

"I—fainted?" Her look was bewildered. I nodded and began to swab the blood off of her cheek with a swatch of gauze and peroxide.

She stared at me for a long moment, then waved off my hands and slowly turned her head back to the door—and the kunai. Then her gaze returned to me. She looked at me, and I assumed the memories returned at this point because her face went livid.

"Dude!" she yelled. "What the hell man?!" Sadie tried to scramble to her feet, but swayed. I grabbed her by the elbow and hoisted her upright, dropping the bloody tissues. She wrenched herself out of my grasp.

"Don't touch me, psycho!" Her gray eyes blazed with a steel fire. "You threw a bloody KNIFE at me!"

"Kunai," I replied dryly. "And I'm sorry about that, but you really shouldn't walk into a ninja's apartment unannounced, you know."

Sadie's face went from enraged to confused to incredulous in the span of a few seconds.

"'Unannounced?'" she scoffed, her accent doing strange things to the words spoken. "You said you'd be over at ten!"

I cleared my throat uncomfortably and began to pack up the kit and salts. I had forgotten she didn't know about my chronic unpunctuality. "I overslept."

"I'll say," she sneered, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. "But really, if you don't want people to come 'barging in' then you shouldn't leave your bloody door UNLOCKED. And if you really expect me to just—"

I promptly lost track of whatever it was she was saying.

_Had she said 'unlocked'?_

I stood and held up a hand to silence her. Sadie was still ranting.

"Sadie," I began, "did you say that the door was _open_ when you got here?"

She gave me a funny look. "Yeah, why?"

"Unlocked," I repeated. "Not just stuck shut or something?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a difference? It opened when I turned the knob, didn't it?"

My pulse began to race.

_Impossible,_ I thought. _I locked that door last night… and put up the alarm. How did she…?_

Last night, like every night, I had rigged a 'chakra alarm' on my front door. Basically what it was was a film of my own chakra that completely coverd the doorframe, and, when broken, would return to me, alerting me to the presence of an intruder. I would feel it's return and be woken up if it was ever disturbed, and yet—I had not felt the film be broken.

I stared at her. She stared back for a moment, then looked away, brushing a strand of long black hair out of her eyes.

"Nice place. You're neater than my mom."

I mirrored her gaze and looked around my room. The bookcases were organized, just like always, and the potted plant on my windowsill was devoid of dead leaves. Nothing was out of place, just like I liked it. Simple. Organized. Structured. Unlike my sense of propriety.

I turned back to her. Her face was impassive.

"Would you like to go now?" I asked. She gave me a funny look.

"Don't you need to get dressed first?"

I looked down at myself. I was dressed in a pair of baggy black pants and a white t-shirt.

"I suppose so," I said, clearing my throat again. She smirked.

"Don't keep me waiting, either. I'm hungry."

And with that, she flounced out of the room.

I sat down on my bed heavily, then got up and followed her. She was in the living room, sitting idly on my couch. The fingers of her left hand were twitching peculiarly in her lap, but I thought nothing of it. She looked at me as I entered, eyebrow raised.

"No mask?" she asked. I froze; I had forgotten. Covering my embarrassment (she'd seen me TWICE, already!) with a cough, I spoke:

"There's food in the kitchen. You said you were hungry…" I then turned and went back to my bedroom to dress.

* * *

I came out wearing the usual: a t-shirt mask (black), a pair of cargo pants with shuriken pouches, and my ninja sandals. My _hitai-ate_, or steel-plated headband, was over my eye, as always. 

Sadie was sitting at my kitchen table munching on a bowl of cereal, turned so that her back was to me. I stood in the doorway and watched her silently for a moment.

She had one elbow up on the table, and her chin was resting on her upturned palm. A spoon was poised over her cereal bowl, but idle at the moment. Her left hand was twitching around the spoon handle just like it had been in the living room. Her angular gray eyes were fixated on the patio doors, and the sunlit world outside. The expression she wore was one of mixed concentration and blankness. As I watched, the spell broke and she resumed eating her cereal.

I stepped into the kitchen. "Hello."

She jumped, then swiveled around and glared at me out of one eye.

"Don't DO that," she snapped, turning back to her cereal.

"Do what?" I asked, sitting in the chair opposite her. She spooned a bite of cereal into her mouth.

"Bay awl ninjee," she said through a mouth full of food. I just looked at her.

She chewed a moment more, swallowed, then took a drink out of the glass of milk sitting next to her bowl.

"Be all ninja-y," she amended. I 'oh'-ed. She scowled.

"Sorry," I said hastily. Sadie rolled her eyes and flipped her hair out of the way again, then rose and deposited her dishes in the sink. She flipped on the water and washed them off, then put them in a cabinet, saying:

"So where are we going today? Just… around?"

"Around," I confirmed. "I thought I'd show you library, the different districts, the bath house, things like that." She nodded, then grinned at me.

"Sounds like fun."

Sadie had a rather roguish smile: her lips curled up higher at one corner than the other, giving her a rather lopsided, quirky look. Her eyes also bunched slightly at the corners, making her face seem, on the whole, slightly devious. It suited her-- in a weird, crooked sort of way.

"Well, I guess we should get going then. We're burning daylight."

I gulped and grinned back, even though I doubted she could tell my expression through the mask.

This wasn't going to be as bad as I thought.

* * *

**

* * *

AUTHOR TIME **

**Well, the fic finally has 25 comments! Yay! You guys TOTALLY rock!!!! I didn't really expect to get that many for this fic, actually.  
**

**Anyway, so the tour actually happens NEXT chapter. Oops! It was just WAY too long if I put it all in here the way I originally wrote it (what was I thinking?!), so I split it into two chapters. Expect the next one shortly! The next one is one of my favorites, because... oops! I almost spoiled it for you! Silly me!**

**Kakashi's outfit differs from both his Jounin attire and his Gaiden attire. It looks like his anbu one a bit, but more casual. And what's with Sadie's twitchy fingers? And what's with the bloody opening-locked-doors thing? Find out in later installments!**

**REVIEW REPLIES:**

**AMY HALL: **Thanks! Enjoy!

**RYSHUKI:** So many comments from you! You totally rock! And I think that Kakashi is late all the time not only becasue he's visiting Obito, but also because he feels like flaunting the rules a little just the way Obito did in his youth. Just my take on it (smile).

**PUNKROCKER:** Thanks for the comment! You rock, as always! Woot!

**NARUTO (C) MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE (C) VIR M.**


	11. Chapter 10: Monumental

Another Side

_A Fan Fiction By VirM._

From Kakashi's Point of View

Chapter 10:

**"Monumental"**

* * *

I showed her everything I said I would: the shopping districts, the business districts, the residential areas, the bathhouse, the book shop. I even showed her the Konoha Ninja Academy (or KNA, as she took to calling it for whatever reason), the training ground, and the Hokage's office.

"There's only one place left," I said. We were walking down a busy street near the market place. "The Hokage monument. All of our leaders have had their faces carved into the cliff side. It's Konoha's most revered memorial."

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. "Memorial?"

"Yes," I said. "There is only one living Hokage at this time: the Third. The Fourth was killed in battle a few years ago, and the third came out of retirement to take over. The First and Second are both deceased."

Sadie nodded morosely, then giggled. I quirked an eyebrow.

"You're like a history book," she said laughingly. "Everywhere we've gone you've been able to spout of historic facts about, as if you were an actual tour guide. It's funny."

I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably. "This village has a lot of history…"

Sadie grinned at me crookedly. "I can see that. My city had a helluva lot of history too, you know."

"Really?" I asked, interested. "I never did catch where you're from."

"York," Sadie said, chipper. "In the UK. Best place in the world, in my opinion."

"Er… sure," I muttered. I had no idea what, or where, 'York' or the 'UK' were.

"So where's this monument thing? My feet are getting tired."

"It's at the end of this road," I said, gesturing down the nearly deserted stretch of path before us. "You should be able to see it coming up over the houses right… about… _now_."

As I said the last syllable, the top of the third Hokage's head came into view, silhouetted against the sky. Beside me, Sadie let out a little gasp, then quickened her pace. Soon we were at the base of the monument, staring up at the four faces towering high above us.

"Wow…" Sadie breathed. "It's huge."

"Mm-hmm," I murmured. I took her elbow in my hand and pointed up at the first face. Her eyes followed my arm. "That was our first Hokage _there_, and _he_ was our second—"

"And that's the Old Man way up at the top, eh?"

"Exactly. The man on the end is…"

I trailed off and found myself staring at the face of the fourth Hokage; Konoha's "Yellow Flash," my teacher, and the savior of Konoha itself. My mind blanked, and I found myself lost in the sculpture's stone gaze.

The sensation of a hand gripping my arm brought me back to reality.

"Uh—" I glanced down to find Sadie clutching my sleeve, looking up at me with concern, her gray eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I looked away, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Yeah," I said. Sadie's unknowing eyes were too hard to meet. "That face brings back memories."

"… oh."

She released my arm and took a step backwards, looking back up at the Hokage monument, using a hand to shield her eyes from the sun that was beginning to set behind the cliff face.

"It's really tall," she said, walking forward. Her fingertips ran lightly over the stone as she stared at the faces above us. I chuckled.

"The stonemasons who chose the site for the faces thought that these cliffs were perfect because they overlook the entire village, just like a Hokage should. They inspire people by being so tall."

"Kind of like Mount Rushmore."

"… Mount what?"

"It's this weird American thing that—oh, never mind."

Sadie crossed her arms in a huff and looked down at her feet. The fingers of her left hand were once again drumming out a beat on her arm, and I realized that the twitchy digits were calloused more so than on her other hand. She scuffed one of her toes idly in the dirt, muttering:

"This is really frustrating; I can't use any cultural examples to get stuff across to you because you've never even HEARD of the countries they apply to." She ran a hand through her hair. "This whole cultural gap is gonna take some getting used to."

I chuckled, amused, and looked back up at the cliff face. Sadie fell silent at my side. I decided to breach the lack of conversation by pointing out another of the cliff's features.

"Over on the northern side of the cliff—" I gestured in the direction as I spoke, "is a staircase that leads to the top of the structure. The stone workers carved it directly into the mountainside during the sculpting of the first face."

"Can people still go up to the top?"

I looked over at Sadie, surprised she had asked. She was staring intently up at the four faces, eyes smoky and intense.

"Yes, but it's a long walk up and—"

I might as well not have said anything, because Sadie didn't wait for me to finish: she simply turned away from me and began to jog northward.

"Hey—wait!" I called. Sadie glanced at me over her shoulder.

"Show me the stairs, Kashi."

I winced at the shortening of my name, but said nothing and ran after her. Sadie again did not wait for an answer, simply kept running, eyes scanning the cliff. I overtook her, being the faster of the two of us, and jogged next to her.

"It's over here," I said, taking the lead. We rounded an outcropping of rock and came face to face with a steep, shallow-stepped set of stairs. It was roped off, but that didn't stop Sadie: she climbed right over the barrier and began to leap up the stairs two at a time. I looked around, and, upon seeing no one, followed her up the steps.

* * *

It took us nearly ten minutes to reach the top. Normally, it would have taken me much less time, but Sadie lacked a ninja's endurance and had to slow down a couple times to rejuvenate. By the time she mounted the final step, her breath was coming in harsh, ragged gasps. I wasn't even winded.

"You okay?" I asked. Sadie was bent over from the waist, hands braced on her knees. She raised her hanging head a fraction, then fluttered a hand at me in what I assumed to be a "don't worry" gesture.

I stood for a long moment and let her catch her breath, then watched as she straightened and made her way towards the edge of the cliff. A three-foot high brick wall acted as a guardrail, keeping people away from the cliff's edge. She stopped about six inches from the wall and stared down at Konoha.

The village was spread out before us like an offering, cast into shades of gold and orange and copper by the light of the fading sun. Light glinted off of distant windows and made the city almost glow in the fading luminescence.

"Oh wow…" I heard Sadie breathe. I glanced at her.

She was standing utterly still, one hand clenched into a fist and held over her heart. Her eyes were wide, and her inky hair blew sinuously on the light wind that was never absent at the cliff's height.

"It's beautiful," she said quietly, not looking away.

I grunted a reply and walked forward, then sat down on the low brick wall separating the solid ground and a free fall. There was about two feet of ground outside the little wall's confines, but my feet still more or less hung off of the edge of the cliff.

"Don't fall," Sadie cautioned from behind me. I waved a hand over my shoulder.

"I won't." Then I went out on a limb and asked: "Why don't you join me? I won't let you fall."

I heard her hesitate, but then there was a crunch of gravel as she stepped forward to swing her legs over the barrier to the right of me. She sat stiffly for a long moment, then relaxed as she became accustomed to the dizzying drop below us.

"This is… nice," Sadie said. I braced my hands on the wall and leaned back, locking my elbows to support my weight.

"I come up here to think, sometimes," I said.

"What about?" Sadie asked. I shrugged.

"This and that."

"Like…?" Sadie wheedled in her peculiar accent. I snorted.

"You're not letting me get out of this one, are you?" I asked. Sadie bristled at my side.

"I'm just trying to get to know you better, is all."

I turned and looked at her, grimacing behind my mask. Her look was peeved, but sincere.

"I'm serious," she said quietly. I sighed and looked back out at the city.

"Honestly? I don't have any family," I said. "My friends—the ones that mattered, anyway—are all dead." I turned and looked at Sadie again. "_They_ are what I think about." Sadie's look was characterized mostly by mixed shock and… I couldn't tell what else.

"I'm sorry, I—I didn't know," Sadie stammered. I shushed her before she could say anything more.

"I know you didn't," I said. "I'm not mad. I just don't get asked that very often." My mask itched slightly, and I rubbed at it absently. "I don't tend to open up to people very often."

Sadie nodded sagely.

"Yeah, you seemed like the secretive type," she said. "The mask was the first thing that tipped me off… if it bothers you, you don't have to wear it, you know. I've already seen you without it."

My head jerked up at that.

"Huh?"

"I said," Sadie said impatiently, "that if the mask bothers you then I wouldn't care if you didn't wear it." I stared at her, and she added hurriedly: "You keep tugging on it, so I just assumed it wasn't comfortable…" she trailed off. I laughed.

"You read my mind," I said. I then reached up and tugged it down so that the fabric pooled around my throat. "That feels better." I inhaled deeply through my nose, closing my eyes to fully enjoy the fell of the twilight breeze against my cheeks. The mask, even though I was used to it, would never cease to be stuffy. Though I did feel a bit apprehensive about letting her see me without the covering, I wasn't about to give up the chance to go without it in the open air. When I had first seen Sadie, I had been doing just that: hiding out in the woods for a few brief moments of freedom. Besides, Sadie didn't seem like the type to obsess over my looks or anything. Not like most girls my age… or any girl for that matter. Sadie seemed more sensible than most.

I glanced at Sadie out of the corner of my eyes. She was staring out at the city again, and the fingers of her left hand were once again twitching in the peculiar, gripping manner.

"Why do you do that?"

The words were out of my mouth before I gave them much thought. Sadie looked at me, tearing her eyes away from the sunset-lit village below us.

"Do what?" Her eyes were flabbergasted. I motioned with my right hand, balancing my weight on my left.

"Wiggle your fingers like that." I tilted my head to the side thoughtfully. She blinked at me, looked slowly down at the twitching hand, and promptly smacked herself in the forehead with the other while groaning.

"I've GOT to stop doing that!" she moaned. Then she hurriedly added: "It's just a habit." Sadie grit her teeth and lowered both of her hands to her lap. "Nothing more."

"A habit…?" I asked. She nodded stiffly, and looked away.

"I play the violin. My fingers just do that sometimes."

"The violin?" I asked, surprised. "Really? You're musical?"

She smiled primly. "Yes, I am. I've got perfect pitch and everything, actually." Her look darkened. "But I hate the violin."

I stared at her. "Why? I think that being able to play an instrument is cool no matter what kind it is."

Sadie turned her head and looked at me for a long, long moment. Her eyes were pained.

"I wanted to play guitar," she said in a low voice. "But my mothe—"

Sadie fell silent, eyes growing wide. Then she looked down at her feet. Her hair fell forward and covered her face, so I was unable to see her expression.

"Sadie?" I shifted towards her. "What's wrong?"

When she did not reply, I reached out a hand and lightly touched her elbow. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. I took her wrist in my hand and gave it a gentle shake. "What's the matter, Sadie?"

She shuddered and raised her head.

Sadie was crying.

"Sadie!" I said loudly, alarmed. "Did I say something wrong?!"

She shook her head and looked away, tears falling faster now. Her shoulders jerked with quiet sobs, and she buried her face in her palms. I moved my hand to her elbow.

"I'm sorry—" Sadie said brokenly. "I don't usually get all emotional like this…" her accent was so thick I could hardly make out her words.

I sat there, clutching Sadie's elbow, not knowing what to do.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked after a moment sob-punctuated silence. She shook her head again.

"I didn't want you to SEE me like this," she moaned. A fresh wave of sobs wracked her slight frame. "I th-thought I had gotten all of this out last night b-but it seems I didn't and—" She broke off mid sentence, unable to continue. "Oh, God, I'm so embarrassed I could just DIE!" Sadie growled vehemently at herself, depression giving way to tearful rage. "I'm such and IDIOT!"

"Sadie," I said loudly, gripping her elbow more tightly. My heart began to thud within the confines of my torso. I pulled her around to face me. Her not-quite-pretty-yet face was a bit blotchy, and her eyes were puffy and still steaming, but I didn't care. Seeing a woman cry was making my chivalrous side scream for action. "There's no use getting mad at yourself. You're under a lot of stress, I know, and you don't need to be ashamed of crying." I reached up and brushed a strand of her hair out of her face. She sniffled at me, avoiding my eyes.

"I mean it," I said more kindly. "There's nothing for you to be ashamed of, okay?" Her gaze flickered to meet mine, then darted away. I gently stroked the inside of her elbow with my thumb, tracing small, comforting circles on her pale skin. "You can talk to me about it," I continued. "I'll listen to you. I know what it's like to feel alone, and the value of a friend to confide in. And I won't tell anyone about whatever it is that's bothering you, either."

Sadie met my eyes, and fresh tears welled up in their silver depths.

"Really?" she whispered. I nodded at her and smiled.

"Really."

Sadie hiccupped, then began to sob anew.

I made to pull away from her; hoping to give her a little more room to breathe, but Sadie seemed to have other plans. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against my chest, gripping my shirt in her fists, latching onto my like she would a life raft in a tempest. She then began to cry again.

I did what any boy my age would have done for a crying girl: I patted her awkwardly on the back and tried not to say anything stupid.

For all of my earlier comforting words, I still didn't really know how to appease a distraught female.

Minutes passed, the sun fully set, and eventually Sadie regained composure. She released my shirt and sat back in her place, a good two feet away from me. Her eyes were dry, though still puffy.

"Talking about my violin is what set me off," she began quietly. "That and thinking about my mother. What I was trying to say was that I wanted to play the guitar, but my mother wouldn't let me." She laughed then. The sound was silvery and clear, a bit like the early-evening stars just beginning to appear above our heads. "She said that the guitar was 'too masculine.' It was either piano or violin." Sadie sobered. "I chose the violin."

She fell silent. I said nothing, not trusting myself to say the right thing. Then she smiled, looking at me quietly. The smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Wanna know something funny?" Sadie asked. She continued without waiting for my answer. "I used to have this fantasy that after I learned to play guitar I would revolutionize the music industry, using a combination of classical music and rock music to create a new genre of music that everyone could love." She giggled. "I used to dream about forming a band and being the singer—playing my guitar, too, of course, and maybe even playing my violin on occasion—and becoming world famous and loved by all music lovers." She laughed again. "Isn't that just the silliest thing you ever heard?"

"No."

I gulped, realizing I had spoken aloud. Sadie was staring at me, perplexed.

"Really?" she asked. "I think it's pretty stupid, in retrospect. I mean, revolutionizing the music industry--?"

I shook my head. "It's not silly at all." I met her eyes. "It's your dream, isn't it?"

"What's so silly about that?"

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AUTHOR TIME**

**RELATIONSHIP ALERT!!!!!! They took a leap forward in mutual understanding! YAY! And that was the ENTIRE purpose of this chapter! CLOSE-NESS!!!**

**Super fast update on my part! I just finished editing this chapter about five minutes ago and HAD to post it! It reveals Sadie's dream, which plays a HUGE role in the fic's sequel/the rest of the fic. This was all relevant, I swear!**

**Augh!! Kashi (Vir giggles girlishly at the nickname) was acting so SWEET! He was still awkward though, the cutie pie! (Vir gets stabbed by fan girls for calling Kashi that) Anyway, I edited this while huggle-ing my Kashi plushie, and now I fell all WARM and FUZZY on the inside… Ew. Gross. Anyway…**

**REVIEW REPLIES:**

**LAOCHRA: **The contest is on for the YYH fics! Woot! Anyway, this is indeed set post-Gaiden but pre-manga. You know what I discovered the other day? Well, Kakashi was 16 when he became a Jounin, and the 4th Hopkage was shown in Gaiden to be ALIVE at that time, right? But NARUTO had the fox sealed in him when Kakashi was 14, and if the Hokage died when the Fox was sealed, how can that work? He would have been dead for TWO WHOLE YEARS when Gaiden had taken place!!! It's either that or Naruto was 4 years old when the fox was sealed in him, and he is SHWON in thr manga to be an infant!!! I think Kishimoto-sama has some plot holes in the manga timeline! Anyway, thank for all of your comments! THE RACE IS ON FOR THE YYH FICS!!!!!

**NARUTO © MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE © VIR M.**


	12. Chapter 11: No Chakra?

Another Side

_A Fan-fiction by Vir M._

Chapter 11:

**"No Chakra?"**

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"No chakra?" the Hokage asked sharply. He set down his brush and began to wipe ink off of his hands with a rag. "What do you mean, 'no chakra'?" 

"Just what I said, sir," I replied, fidgeting under his stern gaze.

It was the day after my little talk with Sadie atop monument Hokage. After she'd had a good cry and vent, I'd taken her back to her apartment. Bright and early the next morning, I high-tailed it over to the Hokage's, eager to report on something I'd noticed during my time with the strange girl from another world.

"But how?" said the Hokage. "Things cannot live without the aide of chakra; it is simply not possible to stay alive without it."

"I know, sir," I said. "But it makes sense. She's been able to sneak up on me without alerting me to her presence on multiple occasions, has been able to slip past chakra wards without training, and is completely unaware of the existence of chakra altogether." I ran a hand through my hair. "There's another weird thing—she can unlock locked doors somehow. Without even trying! She just waltzed into my apartment yesterday morning and chewed me out for leaving my door open!"

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Why was she in your apartment?"

I flushed. "I offered to give her a guided tour of the city yesterday and was a… bit late. She got tired of waiting."

"Ah." The third's eyes sparkled with amusement. "I see. Did she seem to like the city?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. She cried a lot."

"You made her cry? Kakashi, I took you for more of the gentlemanly sort."

I spluttered. "She just kind of broke down at the end of our walk out of sheer homesickness. It had nothing to do with _me_!"

"I'm sure," said the third dryly. Silence hung heavy in the air for a few moments.

"She's been through a lot," I said finally. "She's not used to our language, or to our culture, and misses home." I took a deep breath. "I don't think she knows quite what to do with herself. From what I gathered, she's been reigned in by her mother most of her life, and isn't quite sure how to handle her newfound freedom."

The Hokage nodded. "What else did she tell you about herself?"

I proceeded to recount to him most of what Sadie had said to me last night, glossing over the deeper bits that I knew she would be embarrassed to have passed on. I made it a point to tell him of where she had acquired the calluses on her fingertips, and when I mentioned her musical abilities he stopped me.

"You say she's musical."

"Yes sir." I regurgitated a tidbit of information Sadie had revealed about herself. "She has perfect pitch, apparently."

"Interesting." The Hokage stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Do you think having her teach music lessons at the Academy would make her stay more tolerable?"

Surprised, I exclaimed: "The Academy?"

"Yes. It would keep her occupied, and not only that, it would justify the weekly allowance I'm giving her." He smiled wryly. "She might find a little peace by filling her time up with something productive."

"But why would the cadets need music lessons?" I asked. "They've never been part of the curriculum before."

The Hokage's face grew dark, and though his eyes were focused on me he seemed to be looking inward.

After a moment, he spoke. "As you know, my ex-protégé, Orochimaru, deserted Konohagakure some years ago."

I nodded. That snake-eyed ninja gave me the creeps, and though I was loathe to have him as an enemy, I was rather glad he was gone.

"Reports have come in that the Land of Rice Fields, or Ta no Kuni, has been taken over by an extremely powerful rogue shinobi with no apparent tie to any of the five major shinobi nations."

My eyes widened. "And you think—?"

"I doesn't matter what I think," said the Hokage tiredly. He mopped off his face with one hand, and for a moment he looked very, very old. "All I know is that that village has been renamed 'Otogakure,' or the 'Sound Village.' If their name describes their fighting techniques, I think our cadets—who will be leading us in the not so distant future—would benefit from understanding the basics of music and sound."

It made sense. I said as much, and elicited a smile from the Hokage.

"You were always sharp for your age, Kakashi-san," the Third said with warmth. "Your father would be proud if he could see you today."

At the mention of my dad a chill went through me. "Yes, sir."

The Third appeared to have taken no notice. "Go discuss the teaching proposition with Sadie. See if she'll agree to it. Inform me for her decision once one is made, and please continue to watch over her. Those are your Hokage's orders."

I nodded and attempted to exit the office. The Hokage called me back.

"Kakashi?"

"Sir?"

"Try to be her friend. I think that's all she needs right now."

I swallowed. "Of course." Again I turned to leave, but this time it was me who held me back.

"Sir?" I asked hesitantly as the Hokage tried to brush another stroke onto the painting he had been working on. He set the utensil down with a sigh. "Have you come any farther in figuring out where she came from, or how to send her back?"

The Hokage picked up the brush again. "The shuriken she had with her is a puzzling object. Within its metal there is a buzz of chakra; a good amount of it, too. Though I have not been able to unlock its secrets, I believe I am close to unraveling them." He eyed me inquisitively. "Why do you ask?"

I flushed again. "I thought she might like an update."

The Hokage smiled slyly. "Well, aren't you considerate?"

Rather than answer, I turned and left the room.

Why_ had_ I asked, anyway?

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**AUTHOR TIME**

**So…. Sorry? It's been way too long! **

**My thoughts on this chapter are as follows: it was a way for me to get the creative juices flowing again, a way for me to continue to the next phase of the story (we get to meet a character I bet none of you are expecting to see. Any guesses as to their identity?), and a way to introduce Sadie' prospective job. I hope you enjoyed this chapter (however short). Please review! I need encouragement!**

**NARUTO © MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE © VIR M.—LIGHT WRITER**


	13. Chapter 12: Agreement

Another Side

_A Fan-fiction by Vir M._

Chapter 12:

**"Agreement"**

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"No way in hell, man!" 

I winced at her tone and said: "It's a great chance for you to practice your linguistic skills."

"No!"

"Look, I understand you can't stand kids, but the ones you'll teach are graduates; most are in their teens!"

"Nuh-uh."

"You'd get to be around music again."

"Nope; still not doing it."

I sighed in frustration and glared at Sadie. She was sitting on one of the kitchen counters, looking all at once bored and indignant. It was an impressive feat, but didn't dissuade me in the slightest.

"Can you at least tell me WHY you won't consider it?" I asked her.

"Oh, I'll tell you why!" she said hotly. "It's because kids can't stand me! I make babies cry just by touching them!" She drummed her bare heels on the cabinet and glared down at her knees. "I tried holding one of my little cousins once and I swear she about exploded."

"And that's the only reason you won't teach them?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, leaning on the refrigerator across from her.

"Not bloody likely! I can't speak their language, for one, they'll make fun of my accent, for another, and I can't teach anything worth a damn, anyway!"

My eyebrow rose even higher. "Still, that's it?"

She moaned in irritation and nodded.

"So you're basically afraid you'll get made fun of by a bunch of twelve year olds?"

"I thought you said they were teenagers!"

"Did I?" I asked coolly. She glowered.

"Not funny, Kashi."

"Didn't mean it to be."

We stared at each other in silence, and I am happy to report that she was the first to look away. Her face and bowed head betrayed dejection, and I knew I was close to winning.

"Just one lesson?" I pleaded. "If it's terrible you won't have to go back."

She looked at me out of one eye; her hair had fallen to cover her face. "Promise?"

"Promise," I grinned triumphantly. It was her turn to sigh.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?"

With a completely straight face, I said: "It's my charm and good looks. No one can resist."

She promptly flipped me off, but otherwise ignored the comment. "When do I start?"

"Tomorrow."

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**AUTHOR TIME**

**Short chapter, to be followed promptly by a longer one. Stayed tuned, for a new chapter is due out VERY soon.**

**Thanks to all of my lovely reviewers and favers and alerters and hitters; your support means the world!!!!! Now for review replies:**

**PR505/xPRx:**Naw, I ain't dead; just sleeping and consumed by school (OH THE HORROR!!!!!). How's stuff with you lately? I've been gone a long time.

**Something 541:**Here ya go!

**Fye K.:**Hope you enjoyed this!

**NARUTO © MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE © VIR M.**


	14. 13:Weasels, Fountains, & Barbie's Boytoy

Another Side

_A Fan-fiction by Vir M._

Chapter 13:

**"Weasels, Fountains, and Barbie's Boytoy"**

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Becoming a teacher was not in my plan, but somehow I had let Kakashi talk me into it. _Damn him,_ I thought as he walked me to the ninja academy. _Damn him and his persuasive face._

He really _had_ looked cute, pleading with me in my kitchen. My original assumption (about his looks and voice being a deadly combination) had been all too thoroughly proven correct, and I was a bit pissed at myself for being taken in like that. But at least give me some credit: his reasoning that it would help my Japanese get better had been a big factor in my compliance (but though I was loathe to admit it, it had mostly been Kakashi himself, the jerk).

"You'll be fine," the aforementioned jerk told me as we walked in the academy's front doors. "I'll stay in the classroom with you until you feel comfortable enough to get along by yourself."

I stared at him, hard, trying to detect a joke. He was so damned tough to read through the mask!

He caught my look but took it as one expressing desire for reassurance. "Don't worry," he reiterated for the thousandth time. "You'll be okay."

We stopped by the front desk, where I received my role sheet. Then we proceeded to the classroom I had been assigned. It contained a desk for the teacher, a chalkboard, and rising tiers of seats meant for the trainees.

I took a seat on top of my desk and crossed my legs. My eyes slid down the roster as I balanced it on my knees, and frown lines creased my forehead.

"Why do I only have three students?" I asked. Kakashi sat on the desk next to me and picked up the paper, scanning it briefly.

"We divide all of the students into teams of three. You've got one of those cells, by the looks of it." He handed back the paper.

The kid's names were all in kanji, but I could recognize two. The first meant 'fountain,' and the second meant 'weasel.'

"Who the hell would name their kid 'weasel'?" I asked Kakashi incredulously. "I bet they get teased like nobody's business."

Kakashi looked at the names over my shoulder. "Oh, him. He's probably the best cadet we have right now, actually. Member of a very prestigious clan around here; the Uchiha. He'll be the fastest learner here; I'm sure of it."

"How old is he?"

"Let's see… nine, I think?"

"Nine?!" I swore. "I thought you said they'd be teens!"

"Oh, he's in a cell with two chunin due to his advanced pedigree. The other two—" He squinted at the paper. "—Izumi and Ken—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" I interjected. "Did you say 'Ken'?"

"Um... yes?"

"Great. A weasel, a fountain, and Barbie's boy-toy. Perfect. And the weasel's a little brat. Can my day get any worse?"

"Izumi and Ken are fifteen, if that helps."

"Oh," I gulped, a thought dawning on me. "For a nine-year-old to be hanging out with teenagers... the weasel kid must be pretty strong, then."

"He is, though I was younger than him when I ranked chunin."

"Really?" I asked, interested. Kakashi nodded, and I thought I detected a glimmer of pride in his voice.

"I graduated at age five and advanced to chunin at age six."

My jaw promptly dropped. Kakashi smiled, eye narrowing into a happy slit. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

I closed my mouth and turned my lips upward in a wicked smile. Payback time. "If you're trying to impress me, Kashi…" I intentionally trailed off, ending with shrug. To my devious delight, he blushed and had to look away. I leaned forward and tried to get a look at his face. He turned farther away, but he was still blushing as he tried to avoid looking at me. My grin widened.

"Is this music class?"

We both glanced at the doorway, jerking abruptly out of our own little world. A girl with jaw-length brown hair had walked into the room. She wore cargo shorts and a green tank top emblazoned with the kanji for 'fountain.'

"You must be Izumi," I said in halting Japanese, hopping off the desk. "I'm Sadie."

She gawked at me. "Where are you from?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Your accent. I've never heard anything like it before in my life."

Kakashi spoke up, presumably to save my ass. "She's from Suiginshima."

Frankly, I had no idea what he was talking about. Neither did Izumi, apparently.

"Where?"

"Quicksilver Island. Their ninja village has only been recently established, and Sadie here is something of a junior emissary, or sorts." He turned to me. "Isn't that right, Sadie?" His eye visible eye shut briefly, and I interpreted the gesture as a wink. So I was meant to play along, huh? Sure, why not.

"That's right," I said with a grin.

"They're so removed from the rest of the world," Kakashi continued, "that she doesn't even know our language. She only just started learning."

I nodded in agreement. Izumi seemed to buy it.

"Wow!" she gasped. "So you're here to teach us music all the way from Suigin no Kuni! How exciting! Tell me all about your home!" She parked herself in the first row and looked up at me expectantly.

Nervously, I opened my mouth to reply, but the door to the classroom opened a second time. A good-looking boy with flaming orange hair and green eyes strode confidently into the room, hands shoved in the pockets of his tan pants.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hi, Ken!" Izumi chirped in her smooth alto. "Our teacher, Sadie-sensei—" she waved a hand at me, and I smiled uncertainly at Ken. "—was just about to start telling me about her home land. She's from an island in the far north called Suiginshima, and she doesn't speak our language very well."

"Ah," said Ken. He took a seat next to Izumi and addressed me: "How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"My age. Sweet. I was scared we'd get an oldster." He glanced at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sempai; it's good to see you." Beside him, Izumi nodded. I noticed idly that her cheeks had flushed a light shade of pink when she looked at him. Strange, and oddly annoying.

"We are missing one," I said. "Where's the weasel kid?"

"Itachi?" asked Izumi. She glanced at a lime green watch on her left wrist. "Well, class isn't scheduled to start until about three minutes from now, and he usually gets here on the dot, so we shouldn't have to wait long."

As if on cue, the door slid open. A boy—shorter than the others—who wore his hair in a low black ponytail marched into the room, face focused and aloof. Two lines _(Tattoos?_ I wondered. _Premature wrinkles? Scars? _I couldn't ascertain which radiated downwards from the inside corners of his eyes, throwing his features into sharp relief.

"Hello," he said.

Ken and Izumi each scooted over a chair to make room for him. As he clambered into his seat, I said: "Hi, Itachi; I'm Sadie."

"Nice to meet you, Sensei," he said slowly. His voice was a tad bit empty, and I felt a tremor of disquiet worm its way into my midsection.

"I suppose we should begin, then," I said in a low voice. Izumi smiled encouragingly. Ken shrugged. Itachi looked bored.

I could tell it was going to be a long lesson.

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**AUTHOR TIME**

**This was just to introduce the three kids Sadie's teaching: Izumi, Ken, and Itachi. Also, we find out Sadie's supposed origins. Woot! Next chapter we find out what actually went on during the lesson. Plus, when will Sadie get her first musical instrument in Konoha? Hopefully next chapter!**

**Please review, people! I need some feedback**

**NARUTO © MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

**ANOTHER SIDE © VIR M.**


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